Metrojet Rules Out Technical Fault as Cause of Crash in Sinai Peninsula

New clues emerge in crash of Russian plane over Egypt that killed 2242:40

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The first bodies from Russia's deadliest air disaster arrived in St. Petersburg for identification as officials refused to rule out terrorism as the cause of the crash.

The Metrojet-operated Airbus A321 crashed Saturday in Egypt's Sinai peninsula, killing all 224 on board. The local ISIS affiliate claimed responsibility for shooting it down — but officials dismissed that as impossible by saying the militants lacked the weapons to do so.

When asked whether a terror attack could have downed the plane, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said no theory could be ruled out, according to Reuters.

Metrojet's deputy general director Alexander Smirnov told reporters in Moscow that the plane lost speed right before the crash and that no technical fault could have caused the plane to break up in the air, saying it had to be due to "an external impact on the plane."

The aircraft in question was deemed airworthy as recently as April/May 2015, according to the Irish Aviation Authority. It said in a statement that it had conducted an review of the Irish-registered aircraft — which was leased to Kogalymavia — as part of its "Certificate of Airworthiness" renewal process and that "all certifications were satisfactory" at that point.